Thomas Keller's Chicken Breasts with Tarragon

As tough as chicken breasts can be to cook—there's no fat or bone to help mitigate dryness—a pounded chicken "paillard" is as easy. It's a technique that becomes a no-brainer once you learn it, whenever sauteeing the old boneless, skinless standby. By pounding the breast into uniform thickness and watching carefully, you can turn out a surprisingly moist cutlet with plenty of caramelized surface area. Add a delicious pan sauce—this time, by one Thomas Keller—and it's a solid dinner, indeed.

Why I Picked This Recipe: I've already praised the technique with this recipe, which was a big draw, but I was also interested in Keller's combination of tarragon and curry powder in a single recipe. The fragrance and spiciness of curry powder fades subtly into the background, while the anise-y tarragon-butter sauce comes to the forefront. Together they make for an unexpected, wonderful flavor.

What Worked: The combination of classic French technique--a simple pan sauce made with shallots, wine, butter, and tarragon--along with the unusual spice profile with curry is the major achievement of this recipe.

What Didn't: My only suggestion next time would be to increase the quantities of shallot, wine, and chicken stock to make more pan sauce to go around. It's that good.

Suggested Tweaks: The recipe calls for dusting the breasts with the paprika/curry spice mixture and allowing them to sit for a couple hours; I skipped this step and cooked them straight away. But if time permits, it would allow more of the subtle curry flavor to penetrate the meat.

Procedures

In a small bowl, combine the paprika and curry powder. Sprinkle the mixture over both sides of the chicken breasts. If time permits, cover and refrigerate for a couple hours.

2

Lay the chicken breasts between two large pieces of plastic wrap and gently pound them until they are uniformly of 1/4-inch thickness. Season both sides liberally with salt.

3

Preheat an over to 200F, and place a baking sheet with a cooling rack set over it in the center. In a large (14-inch) skillet, heat a film of canola oil over high heat until almost smoking. Lay two of the chicken breasts presentation (smooth) side down into the pan and cook until golden, 1-2 minutes. Flip the breasts and cook the other side until golden, being careful not to overcook the thin breasts. Transfer to the rack, add a little more oil to the pan if needed, and repeat with the other breasts.

4

Pour out any remaining oil in the pan and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the shallot and cook until just soft, about 3 seconds, then add the wine and cook until reduced by half.

5

Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and reduce until thickened to a sauce consistency. Stir in the chopped tarragon and remove from the heat. Add the remaining butter and swirl the pan until just melted into a glossy sauce. Pour in any accumulated juices on the baking sheet and swirl to combine.

6

Arrange the chicken on a platter, pour the sauce over it, and serve immediately.

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About the Author

Born and raised in Chicago, one of Blake's earliest food memories was a Chicago-style hot dog with all the toppings. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

As a co-founder of The Paupered Chef And a Serious Eats Contributor since the beginning, Blake has been writing about food regularly since 2006. He currently contributes weekly to Dinner Tonight and writes the Chicago-based column Sausage City. He studied professional cookery at Kendall College in Chicago, and is creative director of Jamco Creative, an outfit in Chicago that specializes in social media marketing.

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